Sabre signs content deals for new lodging tool for agents

SOUTHLAKE, TX — Sabre Corporation has announced agreements with TravelBound, Bedsonline and the Expedia Affiliate Network (EAN) to make its content available in the new Sabre Content Services for Lodging, launching later this year.

Answering the industry demand for additional types of rate and inventory options, these agreements will establish a critical mass of new opportunities for GDS consumers and buyers, says Sabre.

Bedsonline brings a portfolio of more than 170,000 properties in 120 countries, while TravelBound reaches customers in 190 countries and offers unique experiences from more than 50,000 hotels. EAN will provide access to more than 350,000 properties worldwide and offer more than 650,000 exclusive deals on accommodations.

“Having aggregator content integrated with traditional GDS hotel content makes travel agents and corporate booking tool providers more efficient, effective and confident in the increased depth and breadth of lodging offerings they are able to bring to their travelers,” says Traci Mercer, Senior VP of Lodging, Ground and Sea for Sabre Travel Network. “These agreements are key to helping us better serve customers in all regions around the globe.”

The first market release of Sabre Content Services for Lodging will deliver over 900,000 property options from both the Sabre GDS and non-GDS sources such as aggregators, redistributors and agency-sourced hotel content. The new lodging solution will allow a more seamless shopping experience that will display the new content at the room and rate level, side-by-side, for more efficient comparison, says the company.

“We’re dedicated to driving business for travel agencies by offering them the widest range of the best hotels under exclusive terms and conditions, and partnering with Sabre furthers that commitment,” said Amanda Spencer Hill, regional manager, North America at Bedsonline. “By simplifying the customer experience, travel agents are able to better accommodate travellers and increase overall bookings, bettering their short- and long-term business goals.”

“Behind the TravelBound interface is a booking platform that handles peaks of up to 1.5 billion searches per day, and we are pleased to further strengthen our global reach with this agreement,” said James Phillips, President, TravelBound. “By joining Sabre in innovating the GDS channel, we feel we´ll be better placed in serving the overall market.”

“Travel agents and travel management companies want to provide their customers with the best choice and flexibility,” said Christian Gerron, VP, North America, EAN brand. “Integrating our competitive rates and availabilities at more than 350,000 properties and 25,000+ destinations worldwide to Sabre’s Content Services for Lodging solution will provide tremendous value to Sabre partners by accessing our more than 650,000 deals.”

The new lodging solution will include the capabilities of Sabre APIs and will be incorporated into Sabre Red Workspace, GetThere and TripCase. The solution will not only drive more efficiency and revenue with increased lodging choice, but will also extend tools and enable improved optimization capabilities to better manage chain, property, and rate-level preferred content, says Sabre.